When I was a youngster the big noise in athletics was the
4 Minute Mile. To run the mile in under 4 minutes seems like an impossibility.
The Brits set out to break this barrier. They built a team around Roger Bannister a medical student-athlete and made a systematic effort to help him achieve that.
On the 6th of May, 1954 Roger Bannister broke the barrier: His time - 3.59.4
The news was huge around the world.
Here is a BBC recording of the iconic event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb5AtK08gPM